Ned woke with bags under his eyes, he was still tired and sore. Yesterday's battle was still on his mind. But none of that mattered, there is a hard ride ahead, allies to be found and a King that needs to be rescued, so he drew on the bond forcefully, the sharp increase in his senses so suddenly was a shock to his body. After that shock wiped away last of his sleep Ned toned down the draw on the bond. It took three days even with hard riding and frequent changing of horses to reach the Bloody Gate from Eeyrie, it will take four more to reach the Inn at the Crossroads and another seven days to reach Moat Cailin if they maintained the pace they are going at now and if they bought new horses at the Inn. All of this only possible because the Highroad is maintained in good order and the Kingsroad is in better condition from Darry towards the North. Most of the Kingsroad below Darry and south was badly damaged in the Dance of the Dragons and never repaired.
Once meeting his Father and the crannogmen, that Ned was wagering will be there, Ned will have to come down the Kingsroad with them again and reach Inn at the Crossroads, which will take another seven to eight days and take a boat down the river trident near the Inn to Maidenpool, which will take about two days. Then take a dirt path from Maidenpool to Duskendale, which will take three days.
All in all by the time Ned reaches Duskendale the King would have been a prisoner for twenty eight to thirty days. A month, who knows what will happen in a month. All of this thinking is a waste of time, he will get there when he gets there.
Ned took a bath last night before sleeping and he would be dirty soon enough, no need to bath again, after having a quick breakfast with his men, they were off again without any pomp. They had a timetable to keep.
Ned Stark isn't a stranger to hard riding, but the pace they set was tortuous, Ned isn't sure how his men are coping so well, Ned is sore in muscles, he didn't even know were there. But they reached Inn at the Crossroads a day earlier than Ned predicted. He assured his guards that they will rest a day at the Inn before riding out again, there were weak cheers at that, while a day might be enough for men, it certainly isn't enough for the horses, some of them might not ever recover, while they are good Northern breed, built for endurance over distances, the pace Ned set was a little beyond them. He will have to buy new horses. But all of that can be dealt in the morrow, for today he just needed some food and a featherbed.
He dreamt the wolf dream that night. Ironeyes wasn't tired at all, that night he wanted to eat a fish so he was lurking at the riverbank near the Inn, he didn't have much experience in fishing, but after a few failures he caught a fat salmon, after devouring it in all of four bites, he got on all fours and howled at the moon in contentment, what neither Ironeyes and Ned expected was to hear an answering faint howl in the distance.
Once Ironeyes identified who answered he howled once again and they used their other senses to identify location of members of their pack, the youngest two siblings were at home, the older sibling was to north west, closer than the two at home, but Mother was near, very near, less than half a day even, that made both Ironeyes and Ned happy.
Ned drifted off to his own mind and had his most restful sleep in days.
Ned woke late, first time in near two years and had a relaxing bath and a leisurely breakfast. The Inn had horses to sell, but none of the quality theirs are. But Ned believed that won't be an issue very soon. Father was near, the only reason he would be near Ned is either because he was urged by his own greendream or by another Seer. And there is a very good chance that Neds hoped for crannogmen contingent will be with Father. Ned can feel Frost coming closer and closer.
Just before the midday meal fifty riders with Stark banners rode into the courtyard, Ned stood at the door waiting for them, he could feel his father's presence and other five unknown presences for a while now, from almost half a mile away.
As his Father entered the courtyard Neds eyes locked with his and Ned called," Lord Father, well met "
" Son, well met indeed ", Father said before drawing Ned into surprise hug, Ned returned it after a moment.
" We have much to talk about, son", his Father said.
" Yes, Father we do, but I can see that you and your party rode hard, once you have washed up and eaten, we will take a walk by the river and talk", Ned said.
His Father agreed and entered the Inn, Ned spied five small cloaked figures emiting moderate magical presence, a bit less than Berek, in his fathers party and felt hope rise in his chest.
Two hours after their reunion Father and Son walked by the riverside and his Father began speaking, " I arrived fifteen days ago at the Moat, hoping to inspect the work, check the ledgers and survey the nearby villages before you arrived. Three days into my visit, I had a greendream of green flames and cackling laughter. The next day a party of five crannogmen arrive, containing one Howland Reed, Heir to Greywater Watch, of an age with you and four others, two men and two women, who move with an unnatural grace. Howland insisted that you will have need of me and him and that I must meet you here and hear what you have to say and decide. And my decision will effect the fate of Seven Kingdoms. So start talking, son"
" Very well, you know my fear about the return of the Others and you remember my rant about them after returning from the Wall, I had another such outburst I ranted about the Wall to the King when I had audience with him. That outburst gave me pause, while the King seemed to take my rant with amusement, I recognised how out of character for me that was and dove deep into meditation..." So Ned told his Father everything that happened during the Tourney, about the message, the Prince's magic, and their fast friendship, about the lessons he gave the Prince. And their correspondence in recent months and finally about his greendream about the King, " I know something is coming Father, I believe that the Prince shares my belief because of his own visions, we need that winged wolf to have any hope of stopping it, our own foray into magic began with Bereks vision of the Winged Wolf. So I was carefully setting pieces to arrange a betrothal between Lya and the Prince, I thought I had more time, at least two more years, but this disaster struck now, I strongly believe if the King isn't rescued very soon Duskendale will drive him mad, if the King goes mad the Realm will bleed and the North is part of the Realm disregarding what we would like to think"
" Hmmm, I thought you will suggest your friend Robert for Lya", Father stated inquiringly. To that Ned laughed.
" Robert is a good man and a great friend, but he will not be a good husband to anyone much less Lya, I believe they will make each other miserable. Robert needs to calm the storm in his gut before he ever thinks of marrying and that storm won't be settling down in next ten years by my reckoning", Ned replied with a smile.
" Very well, why do you believe the Prince will be a good match for Lyanna then? ", Father asked.
" Putting the greendreams aside, magic will be a huge part of Lya's life once we wake her Gift, there are few men who could abide having such a powerful wife, the time I spent with him little it may have been has shown me that he is such a man, the Prince having his own magic will be something they both will share, before you ask, I know all this with certainty because I read his intentions by his untrained magic, you remember how Berek could always read us in the beginning, as for why he would be a good husband, I have made enquires of his character, the man is respectful to those beneath his station, how many Lords can we find, even in the North who are kind and respectful to smallfolk and servants, Rhaegar is such a man, you yourself has seen him working to keep his word in a prompt fashion, when the Crown promised aid for the Wall, the Prince could have just given some gold and washed his hands off the promise, but he studied and learnt what we would need and provided that. He is a good man, in time he will be a good king and I believe Lya and Rhaegar will complement each other well", Ned said with confidence.
" Very well, if Rhaegar is such a good man and will be such a good king, why rescue the King, why not arrange it so that Rhaegar becomes King now and marry Lya to him, why take the risk of Aerys turning mad? ", Father asked seriously.
" I have thought of it, death of the King at this juncture might benefit us, but it will definitely benefit Tywin Lannister, if the King dies it weakens House Targaryen, Tywin will not let such opportunity pass he will bring enormous pressure on Rhaegar to marry his daughter Cersei, it is a good match from a political standpoint, if Rhaegar refuses he will weaken his own position, Tywin will try to remove whoever Rhaegar marries to clear way for his daughter or the he will try other means such as inciting rebellion to do away with weakened House Targaryen, that man wants his blood on the throne and his legacy to live on for a thousand years, he will sink to lowest of seven hells to make it so. We may be equal to or greater than Tywin in prestige, influence, martial strength, but gold makes the world go round he has more of it than us, we may win on the battlefield but he will win in the backroom deals. We need time before we move against Tywin and the King's death won't give us that", Ned replied.
" You have given this a lot of thought, I see. So what is your plan on how to move forward, and how does it help the North and House Stark?"
" We rescue the King, I will be personally involved in the operation, yes, it is a risk but my personal involvement has reasons and benefits, if crannogmen tried to rescue the King, he might not believe them, but having a face he could identify and believe will eliminate that risk, me being personally involved will make the King feel deeply indebted to our House, I have no doubt this incident will further strain the relationship between the King and Lord Tywin, that decreases Lord Tywin's influence, then I will propose the match to Rhaegar, who will in turn suggest Lyanna as a bride and point out how there was supposed to be a wedding between our Houses that was promised so long ago and how House Stark was doing well by themselves and have made allies with Vale and Stormlands and how beneficial this match is, since he is already indebted to us he will probably agree, even if he doesn't we will have time we need to prepare, once we are done we remove Lord Tywin and King Aerys from the board quietly. And I am certain that Rhaegar will be enthusiastic of the match, House Stark and the North will benefit from having Lyanna as the Queen of the Realm", Ned said confidently.
" Son, you are three and ten a boy still and you are plotting deaths of Kings and Highlords, why ?", Father asked softly.
" Because I made a promise. I promised Mother on her deathbed that I will protect my pack, ensure their survival and happiness. Nothing and no one will stop me from keeping it. If I have to ground mountains to dust and drain oceans dry to keep it, I will. This I swear", Ned quietly.
His Father stared at Ned as if seeing him for the first time, and sighed wearily before saying, " Very well, Son, you spoke your mind. I have listened. Now I will think on it and you will have my answer by the morning, you may leave ".
Ned bowed deep and left without a word or a glance back.